Creeping Shadow (The Rise of Isaac, Book One) (10 page)

"And you didn't see her again after that?" Oliver asked.

"I still visited her occasionally. It wasn't until your dad died six years later that she cut everyone off," Laura said.

"Did she see my dad in that time?" Oliver asked, wondering if he had ever spent time with the stranger that was his father.

"No, they couldn't. Not only were they banned by law but your father had gone into hiding." Laura glanced at Ely who shook his head slightly in response.

"What is it?" Oliver interjected, sure his grandfather was trying to hide more of the facts.

"Dad, he should know. It'd be worse if he hears it from someone else," Laura muttered out the corner of her mouth.

"What? Tell me," Oliver insisted, feeling his heartbeat quicken.

Laura's eyes shifted to his. "There was an
incident
involving your father's betrothed. William and Isaac were seen leaving her premises on the night she died, Rose Isla was her name. They were accused of her murder and William, Isaac and Eugene went on the run soon after.

"I doubt William could have gotten to Alison after that, the Gateways were being tightly monitored. No one heard anything from them until six years later when the news of William's murder came out," Laura said.

"But there wasn't any evidence to prove my dad killed her?" Oliver asked, feeling an inexplicable compulsion to defend him.

"Well, no," Laura said slowly. "But he was a mage. He could have destroyed the evidence."

"How did she die?" May asked, her pale skin somehow paling further.

"It appeared that she overdosed on some narcotic. Rose was very popular amongst the people, she was a high born mage who used to speak out on issues of human rights. When she died, the people of Aleva were in uproar and, when a witness came forward to say they had seen William and Isaac present at the scene of her death, the public wanted blood."

"But his friend, Rimori, it must have been
him
. He was the one who killed my dad.
He
was the murderer," Oliver argued, refusing to accept the accusations about his father.

"Perhaps you're right," Ely said but Oliver sensed it was only in an attempt to keep him calm.

"What happened to Eugene?" May asked and Oliver was aware that she was purposefully steering the subject away from his father.

He listened, but began to chew the inside of his cheeks anxiously.

Ely shifted in his seat. "My son was tried in court for conspiring against the Gateways and assisting Rimori in getting to Vale. He had also been on the run from his own arranged marriage like your father. They locked him up for almost ten years to make an example of him. He only got out a few months ago."

"But he didn't do anything wrong," May said sadly.

Oliver thought of the dusty bedroom back at Oakway manor, feeling a twinge of sadness at the thought of Ely packing up Eugene's things. He realised Ely must have sealed the boxes shut with magic.

Laura shook her head. "He did. It's one thing to believe the Gateways shouldn't be in place but to actively go against them is an act of terrorism against the Council." Her voice quavered slightly as she spoke.

"Did you visit Eugene in prison?" May asked.

Laura nodded. "Just once. He wasn't the same. Something about him wasn't my brother anymore. He said he was too ashamed to talk to me and didn't want me to visit again." Laura's eyes glistened with tears. "I know what he did was wrong but he was harmless. He would never hurt anybody."

"Will you visit him now he's out of prison?" May asked gently.

"Maybe, but he's living in Brinatin so I'd have to take a trip there. I was hoping he would contact me but so far I've heard nothing," Laura said, a sad look creeping into her eyes. "You haven't heard anything have you Dad?"

Ely shook his head firmly.

Quiet fell over them but Oliver's mind was a clamour of noise as he went through everything he had been told. The blood that ran in his veins could be that of a murderer's. He didn't want to believe it and it was going to take a lot more than speculation to convince him.

9

A Desolate Land

Ten Years Ago

R
imori fell through the Gateway to Vale and landed on his knees, splitting the skin on razor sharp rocks that lay beneath him. His right hand was shaking, his fingers still gripping the knife so tightly that it hurt. He eyed the blade which was covered in fresh blood and felt the full force of what he had done.

He suppressed a wave of emotion that threatened to overwhelm him and opened his eyes to take in the world before him. As far as the eye could see was black rock, swathes of it reaching ahead of him into the distance. He rose to his feet and gazed at the landscape of Vale in silent awe.

The Gateway was embedded in a blackened, charred tree that curved over like a withered hand. The baked-looking earth sat beneath a blood-red sky and the atmosphere was heavy and oppressive, making Rimori's lungs labour a little harder than usual.

A few feet ahead, the rough terrain dropped away into a massive canyon that disappeared into a shadowy abyss. Rimori crept towards the edge and gazed down into the impenetrable blackness where, far, far below was an obsidian river only distinguishable because of its glossy, ink-like sheen.

He drew away from the ledge and gazed into the distance where enormous, dark mountains towered into the sky, their shapes irregular and curved. It was as if the rock had once been a chaotic, black ocean that had frozen in time.

Rimori wiped the blood from his knife and attached it at his hip, thinking through the movements carefully as he concentrated on remaining calm.

The ground shook in a sudden earthquake and Rimori ran towards the Gateway, clutching a branch tightly as he watched part of the canyon wall crumble away into the nothingness below.

The shaking ceased and he gathered his thoughts, considering the plan he and his friends had discussed over and over for the past few years.

He needed to find the shadow creatures that lived in Vale, the varks. He gazed around wondering where they might dwell within the desolate land. The varks were the main reason he had travelled to the seventh world and was certain that they would lead him to the truth behind the Arc.

The ground beneath his feet trembled again and he stumbled to his knees, still clinging to the Gateway tightly.

"Doriannn?" a voice hissed inside Rimori's mind and he threw a hand to his forehead in shock. "Doriannn?" it hissed again.

"Who's there?" he shouted, his voice shaking uncontrollably.

"You mussssst pay for whattt you didd," it said and Rimori crumpled to the floor as pain ripped through his body.

He screamed, feeling a slashing, ripping sensation as if a beast were clawing at his gut.

It stopped as abruptly as it had started and he looked down at himself, panicking as he expected to find his torso torn to shreds. He was astonished to discover himself whole, his entire body free from a single scratch.

"Stop, stop,
please
. I'm harmless," Rimori gasped, desperate not to be subjected to the pain again.

There was no one close by but he could feel a shadow pressing down on his body, somehow weighing a tonne yet there was no sensation of being physically touched.

"Doriannnn," it repeated.

"No, I'm not Dorian. My name's Rimori. Isaac Rimori," he said frantically, his mind finally registering what the voice was saying.

"Rimmorii?" it repeated in a deep, gravelly hiss.

Rimori squirmed on the floor against the vark's unwavering hold.

"Yes, Rimori. Not Dorian," he said through gasps, the air being squeezed from his lungs.

"Magee. Magicc.
Burningg.
" Its anger was increasing.

"No. I'm not a mage. I can't hurt you," Rimori wailed, willing the creature not to attack him again.

"Why havvve you come to my worllld?"

"I want to destroy the Gateways. I want to make an allegiance with your kind."

"Allegiancccce? Yessss, yesss," it hissed.

Rimori felt a twinge of hope. "
Yes,
" he groaned
.

"No allegianccce with humansss."

Pain ripped through him again. His body convulsed violently and his eyes rolled up into his head.

"St-stop," he managed.

The pain ended abruptly and Rimori's breathing came in tiny pants as he struggled to draw air down into his lungs.

"Please. Give me a chance," he wheezed.

The vark didn't answer for a moment then said, "No chancessss."

Rimori braced for more pain, screwing his eyes up and clenching his fists.

"No mmagic. You havvve none," it said after a moment.

"Yes, I have no magic. I can't hurt you," he said in relief.

"You'll commme with me. Yess, yess. Follow closssssely or mmore painn."

Rimori felt the creature release him and he rolled onto his back, his chest rising and falling erratically as his breathing returned to normal.

"
Come,
" the vark ordered, the voice vibrating in his ears.

Rimori's hands shook as he pressed them to the ground and righted himself.

He could feel vibrations emitting from the vark a few feet away and a barely perceptible shadow signalled its position, almost as if a cloud had drifted over the sun. He discovered that its form became nearly visible in the periphery of his eye but, if he tried to look directly at it, the vark was indistinct once more.

"Thissss way," it hissed. Based on its voice alone, Rimori would have guessed the creature was male but he wasn't even sure that varks had genders.

Rimori stumbled after it, feeling his way using the vibrations it seemed to dispel.

The vark led him to a cave, the entrance to which lay at the bottom of a tall rock structure shaped like a giant, piercing thorn that jutted up into the sky. He descended deep into the dark cavern where the rocks resembled hot coals giving off a faint, red light which appeared to burn from inside them.

Rimori reached the main chamber, crossing to the heart of the chasm where he sat down on a plinth of stone. Exhaustion dragged at him. Even in the days before he entered Vale, he had eaten very little and barely slept a wink. Worry racked at him as he wondered where his next meal would come from.

"What's your name?" Rimori asked the vark in an attempt to make peace with it.

He felt it shift around him, making his body quiver.

"No namee. No need for namessss."

* * *

Rimori went four, excruciating days without a drop of water. Hunger was a burden he had hoped we would never experience again. It was ironic, he thought, that he would die the way his life had begun: starving and alone.

The creature visited him throughout each day and, although Rimori pleaded for nourishment, it offered none.

The familiar vibrations humming through the cave meant Rimori sensed the vark's presence well before it spoke.

"Rimmmmoriii?" it said in a snake-like hiss.

He was lying in a heap on the floor, his body curled up and foetal-like. He wondered if the vark was checking if he was still alive. He hadn't been well enough to speak with it for long periods of time because his head ached so badly that it felt as though his brain had shrivelled and was tugging on the inside of his skull.

"Mmm?" was all he could manage.

"Why youu lieee there like thatt?" it asked curiously.

"I'm dying," Rimori whispered through parched lips.

It was all worthless. He would be dead in another day, two at the most and all his planning and effort would come to nothing. He could have returned to Arideen but, even if he did so, the scorching desert stretched a four day walk to the nearest settlement. Besides, he couldn't return to the other worlds without having achieved his goals. He would rather die.

He would have cried if he had had enough moisture in his body to do so but instead he let out a pained noise which encompassed his grief.

"Dyingg? Can't diee."

"Maybe
you
can't, but I can. And I will. Perhaps today." If he was fated to die then he hoped it would end soon, rather than lingering on in agony.

"
No
." It sounded angry.

"Yes. I need water."

He felt the vark's presence lift from the cave and doubted it would return to him again. He knew he would die there alone and his dreams would die with him. He closed his eyes, preferring to be asleep when it happened.

* * *

The sound of something large crashing to the cave floor stirred Rimori from his sleep. His lips were cracked and sore and his eyes were curtained by darkness, blurring his vision.

"Food. Eatt. Livee," the vark's voice said, drawing him back to consciousness.

"F-food?" Rimori blinked away the curtains and his eyes focused on the thing in front of him.

A hulk of meat lay on the floor, bloody and fresh. He pushed his body up and shakily crawled over to it, reaching for his hip and gripping the knife that still hung there. He ate the meat raw, savouring the sustenance, knowing he would survive.

Once he had fed, he wiped the blood from his chin and pulled himself further into the cave. His vision sharpened and the pain that had set into his body started to recede as his senses slowly returned.

"Thank you," he whispered, still feeling the vark's presence.

"Yess. You will livee now."

"Why did you save me?"

"For allegiancccce."

"You trust me?"

"Yesss, yesss."

"Will we bring the Gateways down together and unite the seven worlds?"

"Yesss."

Rimori lay down and rested a hand on his full stomach which ached and grumbled as it digested food for the first time in days. "Leave me a while. I must rest."

"Yess. I will let you ressst." The vark disappeared and Rimori closed his eyes once more.

He could barely believe his turn of fate, it was as if some higher power had gifted him with life. The thought gave him such faith in his coming plans that he felt overwhelmed with the feeling that he had somehow been chosen. It was
he
that would lead the seven worlds into the future, uniting them as one, great empire over which he would rule.

He vowed to never give up on life again. A creature of Vale had saved him; it was the most unlikely situation he could ever have imagined.

He had to focus on gaining some control over the vark. He needed to be in charge if they were going to succeed. The creature didn't seem overly intelligent and had left him when he asked it to. Perhaps he had a chance.

When it returned to him once more, he decided to try something that would begin the steps towards bonding with it: he was going to name it.